Of Popcorn Kisses and Backyard Swings
by Seis Fleur
Summary: Ace and Luffy play matchmaker as they watched Sabo and Koala turned from childhood friends to young sweethearts. Sabo/Koala, suburban life AU. [Edit: Expanded into a series of one-shots about the four childhood friends and coming of age.]
1. Chapter 1

_**One Piece Goda belongs to.**_

* * *

Ace was the oldest among the three. He was raven-haired - messy one, at that - and was the most reclusive, until you get to know him better. He was also the tallest among those three, and the most handsome, as agreed by the young girls of the neighbourhood. He was adored for his charming crooked smile, his manners, his adventurous demeanor, and yes, even the freckles on his cheek, which resembled a beautiful constellation.

Luffy was the youngest among the three. He was also raven-haired - spikier than his elder brother - and the most shameless, if you could put it that way. He was also the friendliest, and he had the tendency to make friends with everyone he bumped into, even the birds of their backyard if he could converse in bird language. Despite being helplessly naive and oftentimes, fearless, his ability to make alliance with almost anyone was something he is talented at. The entire neighbourhood adored him.

Sabo was the middle child among the three. He was physically different than his two brothers - mainly due to the fact that they weren't exactly _real_ brothers - and had strawberry blonde hair. However, he was his own Oliver Twist, and was no different than the other two. Despite being equally adventurous as the other two, his manners was the best among those three. Sometimes, Ace and Luffy would get jealous of him getting praises from the elders for his better grades at school and for being the most helpful around the house, but it doesn't mean that he was less mischievous than the other two.

The three brothers grew up together with their Aunt Dadan, whom would often wipe their dirty faces and tuck them to bed no matter how much the woman yelled at them and called them 'useless brats' and 'shitty troublemakers' every single day. She was a strict woman, they say, but the three little kids' survival skills were far off better to survive her brutal punishments. Aunt Dadan was rather masculine, and for that reason, she had rarely displayed anything resembling affection towards the three. She would like to keep her reputation that way, no matter how much she had grown to love these useless brats.

The three would play around the neighbourhood until sunset. Half of their childhood were spent venturing into the woods outside the fences of the neigbourhood's playground, doing God-knows-what. Sometimes they would return home wounded and bruised, scraped knees and mud-stained hats - especially Luffy's favourite straw hat - but neither would cry. Their adventures of fighting wild racoons and fishing with self-made blunt spears sounded too much of an imagination, but no less realistic. Aunt Dadan would overhear their stories every night as the three sat in the bathroom washing their own mud-stained clothes, a punishment Aunt Dadan was very convenient with seeming that the boys never complained.

When Ace and Sabo entered middle-school, a lovely girl moved in next door, and joined their adventure troop. Koala - yes, like the animal - was the name of the brunette. She had brown shoulder-length hair, round hazel eyes and an adorable smile that never seemed to leave her face. She was in a pair of wrinkled chocolate-coloured overalls and a yellow t-shirt when they first met her - she was helping her adoptive father, Fisher Tiger, to carry boxes of their belongings into their new double-storey home. She was friendly and sweet, but also reasonably strong and athletic for a girl her age. Upon learning that they were going to the same middle-school, the four started walking to-and-from school every day. No sooner, Koala had became a part of the bunch of childhood friends.

As time goes by, the four kids had bloomed into very attractive young teens. They had become too old for adventures in the woods, so they had traded raccoon and rivers with bicycle rides and local parks. While Ace became the middle-school hottie often showered with love letters from Bonney, Sabo became a potential valedictorian, resulting him to unintentionally turn into the teacher's favourite. Luffy spent half of his middle-school hours attempting to prank and getting himself pranked by a certain orange-haired girl in his class. Koala, on the other hand, grew into a beautiful young lady, but while the girls of her class had attempted to befriend her and invite her out for sisterly shopping and slumber parties, she rejected them, staying loyal to her friendship with the three handsome lads.

"I don't mind Bonney, but the entire female species of the school trying to bother me gets really tiring to handle, man." Ace tossed a folded parchment labelled '_To Ace-kun_' with a heart drawn all over, into the dustbin in front of their yard, one very morning. He held his bicycle out to the sidewalk, followed by the Sabo and Luffy, each with their own bicycles.

"I can prank them if you want to, Ace!" Luffy offered, clutching a tube of strong elephant glue in his left hand. "I've planned the best prank for Nami today, shishishishishi!"

"Lu, Imma let you finish but, that girl obviously likes you," Sabo suggested, walking his bicycle with his two brothers along the fence of Koala's house.

"Ugh, if she _likes_ me, then why does she try to make my life miserable every single day?" Luffy reasoned back, of course. In understanding romance, Luffy was the slowest between the three.

Koala stood with her black rucksack hung from her shoulder in front of the gates of her house. Her scraped knees remained untended under the skirt of her lemon-coloured Peter Pan-collared dress. She gave them a hearty smile. "Good morning! Uh, I can't cycle with you guys to school today." She brushed the little dirt of her skirt lightly. "My bicycle is broken. Guess I have to walk today."

But of course, they wouldn't let her walk all by herself. The boys have grown to care for her like a sister over their friendship. Ace hummed, rubbing his chin. "Hmm... We can't let you walk by yourself to school."

"No! No!" Luffy shook his head. "Why not we all walk together today?"

"Or you can ride with me," Sabo offered, gesturing to the metal carrier just behind the saddle of his bicycle. Sure, he had the least rad bicycle among the three, but thanks to Ace, who mentioned that he could use it to _pick up chicks_, he didn't mind so much. "C'mon."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Sabo mounted himself on the saddle of his bicycle, and waited for Koala to seat herself behind him, having to awkwardly grip his shoulder so that she would be so confident on not falling off. Luffy and Ace snickered behind them, which only lasted for a while, of course.

Koala giggled so much as they rode along the concrete sidewalk on the way to school. Who knew riding a bicycle with someone else cycling would be enjoyable? She rode with Sabo again for home, and the next day, and the next day, and for the entire week. Sabo wasn't complaining, although awkward shoulder grips slowly turned into comfortable waist tugs. He especially loved it when she giggled.

When Fisher Tiger got her a new bicycle, she was a little sad.

The following year, Aunt Dadan had decided to give the boys separate bedrooms, now that they're old enough to be all independent. It was probably the old parenting book she had discovered, telling her that _single bedrooms allows your child to develop their individual creativity and personality_. Ace decorated his with posters of metal bands, while Luffy had spent his entire savings to fill his room with various game consoles and Stephano statues. Sabo was the luckiest. His bedroom window was directly opposite Koala's bedroom window. Now, he wouldn't be a dick and spy on her - she was their _best friend_, anyway - but the handsome blonde had developed a certain routine over the next few weeks, to check at her bedroom window before bedtime, wondering if she was already asleep. And if she wasn't yet, she would smile back at him, and the two would communicate through familiar gestures and portable whiteboard signs.

Nevertheless, that year, the social challenges in school had never once weakened their friendship. Ace became the superstar athlete of the school, while Sabo remained top of his grades, and began showing leadership skills. Luffy was still a dear prankster to his orange-haired classmate, who had gotten very lucky with puberty. Koala spent another whole year refusing offers of girlish shopping and sleepovers.

She was much more comfortable with their routines of Mondays-with-Dadan's-cooking, Wednesdays-at-Diners and Fridays-at-the-movies with the boys she had considered as her brothers. Wednesdays-at-Diners was one of her favourites of the week. The diner they often visited was just a few blocks away from their school, and though nearly _everyone_ from their school went there, no one would stay as long as past sunset. Koala particularly liked the diner for their American 50s style interior decor, the curly-haired curvy waitresses with red lipstick, checkered counters and especially, the huge jukebox located at the corner of the diner. Routinely, they would each pick at least a song at the jukebox, and would shamelessly dance along. She would often danced too, with the boys, and she would care less about weird looks the other costumers threw at them. She had the three lovely boys with her. Nothing could go wrong.

"The girls were so mean!" She mumbled over her fries. "Well, okay, maybe Rebecca wasn't the most popular girl in school, nor she had good grades, maybe she wasn't the best prankster, but listen, listen, once the girls purposely aimed to Rebecca with their shinai, she deflated all of them just like that! Just like that! She was all woosh and bent down like hiyah..."

Ace and Luffy battled over their chicken drumsticks while listening to her story, while Sabo had his chin rested on the palm of his hand, head slightly tilted, eyes unblinked, observing her as she continued to talk. Her round eyes were so lovely as they narrowed a little whenever she laughed, her cheeks were so naturally tinted with a red glow under her fair, fair skin, and her goddamn smile was so golden, the edge of her lips seemed to have a natural way of keeping her cheeks risen as if she had never frowned before. He found her very adorable this way.

"Koa, it's your turn for the jukebox," Luffy said, sliding a quarter towards her on the table.

"Alright, but you have to dance with me this time round, Luffy!" Koala smiled, taking the quarter and left the table to head to the jukebox.

As Sabo sighed, Ace nudged the blonde teasingly. Sure, they all have been close friends since the beginning of middle-school, but once puberty had taken place, Ace understood what happens when the hormones started kicking in. While the two raven-haired brothers sees Koala as a sister, and sometimes, a wrestling partner, Ace have noticed for months that Sabo had started acting rather different around Koala. Not only he was all-smiling whenever she was around, he had also started wearing more cologne, dressing-up more handsomely, groomed his messy blonde hair better, and worse, Ace once found him sleeping with the stupidest, cheesiest, widest grin on his face.

When confronted, Sabo only managed to deny every time, but the blush on his face was a strong proof. Ace and Luffy kept teasing him for an entire week after that - even Aunt Dadan joined in the tease. Sabo would only reply with a friendly wrestle, and then, he would run off to his room quickly and supposedly 'do homework'. Truthfully, he would end up lying on his bed every time, trying to shake off the embarrassment, and fighting to stay sane while his heart thundered faster at the thought of Koala. It was the worst - having butterflies in your stomach as your thought wanders around flashes of your lovely _best friend_. He often told himself that it was temporary and that it would pass, those fucking butterflies.

He never opened the curtains the entire week. He was afraid of those butterflies in his stomach. They felt freaky.

Ace and Luffy were, to Sabo's unfortunate surprise, much sneakier. They decided to play matchmaker one night, wasting away two tickets of a horror movie that Friday evening. Sabo had lined up for the popcorn and drinks when Ace and Luffy claimed to be sick, pretending to have food poisoning over the cafeteria food they took earlier that afternoon. Sabo and Koala were pretty concerned and suggested to cancel movie night out, but Ace and Luffy insisted them to proceed.

"Oi, you sure you're okay?"

"Y-yeah, we'll call Dadan to pick us up."

It was not until they have found a white rose on Koala's seat in the movie theater that Sabo realized that Ace and Luffy were setting things up. Luckily for him, she only chuckled at the sight of the white rose on her seat.

"Wondered who left it here?"

Sabo shrugged nervously, as Koala took the rose and held it close to her chest. They sank into their seats - in between other two empty seats in which Ace and Luffy was supposed to occupy. It was a little awkward, considering that they had never been together alone, without the presence of the other two. Koala was used to hanging out with either of them alone while discussing female-related matters and deep dark secrets, but never once in this rather romantic situation.

Horror was a genre Sabo and Koala enjoyed very much. Throughout the entire movie, they had commented on how _he shouldn't hide in there, _how _she should close the fucking door_ and how _there was a knife, damn it, why didn't you bring it with you_? The outrageous amount of jumpscares did get them, though. Sabo was manly enough to only flinch at every jumpscare, but Koala was a little weaker with horror surprises. She leaned in to him many times, tugging and pulling his shirt aggressively followed by apologies, and he had also accidentally threw his arms around her a few times._  
_

And when he realized that it was giving him those butterflies again, having the girl in his embrace, he tried to release her and pulled back. But the girl gripped his arms tighter, her eyes narrowed at the screen, anticipating another jumpscare. "Don't let go yet," she told him, and it made his heart flutter, he didn't understand why.

"Okay," was his only reply.

"Sabo, is this too much horror for you too?"

"Mmh?"

"I could feel your heartbeat. It's so fast."

Blood rushed through his cheeks. He said nothing else the entire movie.

When the movie ended, Koala took the white rose with her. It was already nearly ten in the evening. The two cycled their way home, side by side. Even under the downlight of the street's lamp post, she looked incredibly stunning. She was wearing one of her favourite sundresses, the one with little yellow carnations all over, and a pair of combat boots, the ones she would wear to school almost Friday. Her flare skirt swayed in the cold night's wind, which also kissed through her hair as she cycled forward, giggling over the little race.

_Ugh, how more adorable she could possibly be?_ He was all blushing the entire ride home. Thankfully, it was less visible under the yellow street light, so it would save him from embarrassment.

As soon as they reached home, Koala decided to check on Luffy and Ace, and their _pretend_ food poisoning. He shrugged as he held the door open for her. Aunt Dadan had already fell asleep in front of the TV, with Walking Dead being played on the LCD screen. Sabo and Koala exchanged looks, and tiptoed to the kitchen. If they didn't know the two any better, the boys would probably be busy chugging down meat, even through any sickness.

But instead, he only had found bottle of grape juice on the table, alongside two champagne glasses, with a note. It was scribbled with terrible handwriting, but still readable. Sabo took the note and read aloud,

_"Sabo and Koala, just take it and pretend it's wine. From Ace and Luffy."_

Koala chuckled, while Sabo shook his head. He made a mental note to kick the hell out of their asses once Koala's home, later.

Koala took the bottle, and poured grape juice into the two champagne glasses. She handed one to Sabo, and whispered to him so as to not wake Dadan up, "let's pretend to drink wine at the backyard."

Sabo smiled, and lead her to their backyard, which was properly tended. There were two swings the brothers used to play with so much during their pre-puberty years. It was pretty rusty but he was confident they were still usable. Koala had also been in their backyard several times, but often those occasions were during daytime. The backyard was extraordinarily beautiful at night. The nightsky was decorated with as many stars as the galaxy - they were lucky their suburban area wasn't very lit up as bright as the city, at night.

The two sat side by side on the rusty swing, champagne glasses clinked. The night was quiet, only sound of whistling wind and singing creatures of the night conquering the atmosphere, alongside their own breathing. Each tried to go through their brain to find something good to talk about, to lessen the awkwardness, but neither managed to find anything to talk on. There was always one cliche topic, though.

"So, dyou like the movie?" He asked her, slightly swinging on his swing.

"It was fine. I enjoyed it." She smiled at him, and proceeded to stare at her legs on the ground, brushing the dry soil with the tip of her combat boots. "Sabo, why do you close your curtains the entire week?"

Sabo turned nervous at the question. He looked down too, trying to avoid her gaze. "I, uh, I just forgot to open it... I guess..." He would admit, it was a pretty weak excuse. "Why?"

"Nothing," she nearly stuttered. "Just wondering."

Sabo took a sip of his grape juice.

"Would you leave it open again?"

Sabo gave a low hum, and a quick nod. "Um. Why?"

"So I could wish you goodnight every night, again." Koala bit her lip. Her glance maintained on the dark ground, on her combat boots. She was a little embarrassed now.

"Uh, sure," he answered, feeling the heat over his cheeks.

"Would you leave it open forever?"

Sabo laughed. "But what if one of us move away?"

"Yeah... That would be terrible. I wish the four of us would stay together, forever."

"You'll get tired of seeing my face, Koala." He joked, chuckling a little.

"Hey, I don't mind seeing your face for a lifetime," she told him. It made his heart beat faster, and damn, those butterflies just couldn't stay still.

Sabo raised his head towards her and returned her smile. He brought himself closer towards her, moving the swing horizontally, but kept it from being in motion by locking his feet onto the ground below him. The closer he was to her, the more he realized that she smelled like a fusion of vanilla and strawberry. The more he realized that she had brown eyes instead of hazel, and that her lips were like the galaxy's edge - Arctic Monkey was right. She was so astoundingly beautiful, that he felt that the moon was incomparable to her, and the crowded stars were even too dim for her.

Sabo could feel her breath close to his face, as he leaned in the slowest dramatic attempt to kiss those tempting lips of hers. He caught her eyes, which looked like as if they contained a thousand Andromedas. He was blushing all over, and she was blushing too, but he really wanted to kiss her, he really wanted those butterflies to stay still until everything is over.

But as soon as the tip of their noses touched, a quick giggle escaped from her mouth. "Sabo, are you okay?"

A wide grin formed on his face, following her musical giggle. "I really don't know what I'm doing, Koala."

But she moved even closer, careful enough not to let their lips touch yet. He could really feel her breath brushing on his lips now, and his heart pounded like mad. He took it as a permission for him to kiss her, well, he never kissed anyone, he was really nervous about this and _damn, should've asked Ace about women!_ But he pressed his lips against hers anyway, and started kissing her.

She was sweet. She tasted like Vanilla Coke on a summer's day.

Once they pulled back, faces only a few inch apart, he saw her smile under her brown locks. She had a certain glow on her face now, which made him want to kiss her again. But he was terribly, utterly embarrassed right that very moment. Koala leaned closer, now, only to have their foreheads touched. She was completely blushing, but she loved it.

"Sabo and Koala sitting in a tree," the two heard a familiar voice sing-songed. They both quickly glanced upwards towards a second-floor window of the house, where Ace and Luffy was practically leaning out to peek at them. "K. I. S. S. LMNOP!" Luffy continued his teasing sing-song, while Ace gave him a thumbs up.

Sabo and Koala laughed in embarrassment. She buried her face in her hands, while he bit his lips awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. Something told him that his window is going to be opened every single night now, and the lovely girl beside her has everything to do with it.

* * *

**Inspired by Tumblr user: zolororonoa's headcanon of Ace, Luffy, Sabo and Koala having double dates at a 50s diner and movie nights every Friday. The headcanon was so kawaii it made me wrote this. Need to get them off my head or else it would go on to poke in my brain 5ever.**

**Damn, I'm so obsessed with Sabo and Koala right now, I need medical help.**

**Thanks in advance for the reads, reviews, follows and favourites. I love you like I love gummy worms and jelly beans.**


	2. Of Goth Girl and Pink Lipstick

**Hi!**

**Oh gosh, I haven't been here in a while. I've received positive feedbacks for 'Of Backyard Swings and Popcorn Kisses' and for a while, I've been wanting to expand it into a longer story revolving on the theme of innocent young love, friendship and coming of age. I've been listening to a lot of Echosmith and Hayley Kiyoko to end up feeling young again, so I'm now typing the following story with a honey chipotle chicken beside me, hoping that I'll nail this.**

**The expansion of 'Of Backyard Swings and Popcorn Kisses' will be in form of consecutive one shots, picking up from where the first installation went off. Here, Ace is sixteen, Sabo and Koala are fifteen and Luffy is thirteen. These will be the mains, and other characters will come in as recurring characters.**

**I bloody hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

**Of Goth Girls and Pink Lipstick**

"What is this?"

"What is what?"

"This. You seeing this?" Ace raised a white mug half-filled with creamy cold chocolate milk, and shoved it in front of Koala's face. The edge of his lips curled in disgust. His messy hair fell over the sides of his furrowed eyebrows. The kitchen they were in wasn't that warm — it was instead, a grey day — but Ace decided it was warm enough that he didn't bother to button his checkered shirt, which sleeves were messily folded up to his elbows.

But Koala wasn't even a bit interested in his washboard abs. She stared at Ace confusedly. "What?"

"Oh, c'mon. You know _what_." Ace's shoulders dropped frustratedly as he called his brothers loudly. "Luffy! Sabo! Guys, c'mere for a sec!"

Luffy and Sabo appeared at the kitchen entrance after a series of loud footsteps were heard — Sabo with a toothbrush jutted out of his mouth, and Luffy with his white t-shirt with a noticable stain of bolognese sauce on it. "What?" They said together.

Ace swung the white mug towards them. "See this?"

Luffy nodded. "It's a mug. What's my prize?"

"No, Luffy. Seriously. Tell us what did you see." Ace sighed. "C'mon, Sabo."

Sabo looked as puzzled, as he shifted his glance between the mug, and Koala, who looked indifferent about whatever it is that Ace was pointing at. "Uh, it's a mug. A white mug with no crack on it, no stain, no nothing. What are you getting at?"

Ace facepalmed. "Are we just gonna ignore the fact that there's a pink lipstick stain on it?"

"Ooh, who did you bring home last night, Ace?" Sabo teased, wagging his toothbrush at Ace.

"I wish," Ace said. He had a reputation with the ladies in school, but it was unknown to his brothers if he was still a virgin. Luffy was too oblivious about sex to even ask, and Sabo didn't want to risk being asked back, especially now that he was dating Koala. Ace placed back the white mug to its rightful owner, Koala, and rubbed his temples. "That's Koala's lipstick. Koala's. Lipstick."

"So?" Sabo and Luffy said together, as if in sync as their expressions showed the same confusion.

"So, Koala's using make up!" Ace said, dramatically pointing at Koala, who seemed shocked at Ace's reaction to her faded lipstick stain on the white mug.

Luffy climbed on top of the counter and adjusted himself to sit on it, while Sabo chortled. "Ace. Bro. My dearest big brother. Are you sure you're not gay? You're making a big fuss over a lipstick."

"Is it because it's on this mug?" Koala said, lifting her mug up to her chest. "If it bothers you so much, I'll leave my lipstick stain on places you won't see then. Like, oh I don't know, on Sabo's shirt maybe..."

"That, I like," Sabo grinned, and winked at her.

"No," Ace said disgustedly. "Are we not discussing how Koala's started using make up? What's next, fake eyelashes?"

Koala shrugged. "Ace, it's just a thin pink lipstick. No need to be so dramatic about it."

"You're only fifteen, Koa."

"Exactly." There was a certain frustration in her voice, but she was trying to surpress it. It's only Ace, after all.

"And soon you'll be one of them Bonney."

"I'm not gonna be _one of them Bonney_," Koala said sharply, and dropped her mug back on the counter. The image of Jewelery Bonney flashed through her mind — Bonney was the Queen Bee of their high school, adored by high school boys because of the combination of her red lips, skimpy clothing, and love for pizza. Even so, Ace trumped all the boys, and she would often leave love notes on Ace's locker, even though Ace had rejected her countless times.

"Sure you won't," Ace sneered a sarcasm.

"Bro," Sabo called, but Ace seemed to ignore him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Koala was getting a more frustrated now. "Ace, what do you take me for?"

"Koa," Sabo called too, dropping his toothbrush on th counter beside Luffy, who remained quiet while sniffing his own shirt.

"You're Koala. Our Koala. Unless there's something we don't know," Ace's hands were on his hips now. He nagging began to resemble Dadan's. "Tell me, who else did you hang out with? Who gave you the lipstick? Do you secretly have girl troops we don't know?"

"You can't be serious, Ace. I don't have secret girl troops! Are you acussing me of trying to replace you guys? I can't believe this!"

Ace sighed. "You might not be thinkin' so now, but it'll be soon when you'll finally find sassy girly friends to hang out with."

Koala threw Ace a disappointed look. "I'm not gonna argue with you over something stupid like this." She pulled her loose knitted cardigan on, and shook her head. "Dadan gave me the lipstick, if you wanna know so much. Dad asked her for help, cos he's a single dad who doesn't know how the hell to educate a teenage girl about grooming. Shocker, isn't it? To know that I'm a teenage girl?"

Ace avoided looking at her, searching for words for a counterattack, but there were none.

"I don't feel like going to the park anymore," Koala continued. "You guys just go ahead." And with that, she darted out of the kitchen through the back door. The sound of the door slammed shut before her made them all flinch. Luffy gave Ace a look as if he was in trouble, and Sabo looked as if he had a long line of scowling to be dumped at him.

"Just say it," Ace surrendered, holding both his hands up.

"Nope, not gonna say anything. I'm gonna go see if she's okay." Sabo swept his hair back like he was Jace Herondale, and darted across the kitchen and swung the door open. "Ah, change your tshirt, Luffy. I don't care if Nami likes it, it's dirty."

"I never said Nami liked it!" Luffy said loudly. He watched Sabo disappear with a pout.

* * *

Fisher Tiger never had a problem with having the boys over, even when they wanted to play in Koala's bedroom. Sabo had always felt that Fisher Tiger treated them like his own after all these years growing up around his house. They left memorable stains on the kitchen floor from when they were kids. They even drew treasure maps on of those walls Fisher Tiger never had the time to repaint.

Even when he knew his daughter was dating Sabo, he still trusted the boy. "No funny business, right?"

"Nope," Sabo answered with cheeks flushed so terribly he ran upstairs before Fisher Tiger could laugh at him.

Koala's room was the one with pastel blue door, with glow-in-the-dark stickers of cresent moons and stars all over. It was slightly open, and through the crack he could see her, lying on the her sunflower-pattern queen-sized bed with a book on her hands, long legs crossed and mouth curled downwards. He knocked on the door, but the girl replied with a humm.

He took it as a permission to come in.

The door creaked slightly as he slipped through, and he close it behind him. Koala's room was neat, a mixture of all things boys and girls were at every corner of the room. There were romantic novels and Pokemon gameboy consoles, dresses hung on hangers and combat boots lined up on the floor in pairs. There were fairy lights dangling from one end of the room to another and so forth, and there were anime figurines on the shelf, of Kaneki Ken and Kirishima Touka in particular.

And then there were him and her, side by side, on the queen size bed. He laid his head beside hers, and peeked onto the pages of the book she was holding up. "John Green?"

"Don't judge me," she said in her smallest voice. She placed the book down on her belly, and turned her head sideways towards him. Her feet was kicking his at the end of the bed. "Did Ace sent you?"

"No, your boyfriend sent you," Sabo said, and his heartbeat sped up as said so. '_Boyfriend_' is such a weird word, but it felt comfortable. He wasn't the one to be all lovey dovey, and he was probably the most shy person on planet earth when it comes to all things romantic. But with her, he felt like the word '_boyfriend_' truly made him feel belonged.

"Mmhmm," Koala hummed, her eyelashes fluttered. "What does my boyfriend want?"

"Your boyfriend wants to know if you're okay." Sabo shrugged. "Are you okay?"

"Ace is such a dick," she complained sadly, licking her lips clean of her matte pink lipstick.

_Damn, that was cute._ "He is, isn't he? But it's okay. He didn't mean what he say."

"It still hurts, you know. What he said."

"I know. But that's how a brother is, isn't it? Annoyingly protective and all."

"More annoying than protective. And he's not even my real brother to begin with."

"He loves you like one." Sabo held out a hand to push aside the strands of brown locks that was dangling across her face. "And you're _ridiculously_ beautiful, you know that? He has a beautiful sister and it scares him to lose one. I'm scared to lose you either."

The mattress vibrated as she laughed. "You're on his side now?"

"Dare I? You'll punch me!"

"No, I'll just drown you."

Sabo laughed. "So, tell me. Was Dadan the one who gave you that lipstick?"

"She did! Are you doubting me too?"

"Just curious. She's not the one to wear make up. She's always so gangster and all. Who knew she had really good taste."

"Who knows she secretly keeps a box of make-up under her bed?"

"Who knows women at all?"

Koala fell smiled, and glanced back to the snowy white ceiling above them. The sound of the ceiling fan dominated the silence of the dull morning for a handful of seconds. "I've never really had good female friends, you know."

"I know." All her life revolved around the boys. Even in school, she had never mingled with the girls. They seemed to like her, and she would often receive invitations to slumber parties and all, but she would often refuse. They made Koala feel uncomfortable, and even when she tried joining the girls for lunch, or a conversation, she didn't feel belonged. It was always the brothers who would make her feel like home, like herself.

"Do you think I should... make some?"

Sabo shrugged. "Do you want to?"

"I don't know. It felt so weird, being around other people, instead of you three. But I don't want to end up being _one of them Bonney. _Ace'll shove his _I-told-you-so_ in my face."

"What about the Perona girl?"

"You meant the one with the pink hair and is always in black? The goth girl in our class? Aw, she laughs funny and she always carries a pink parasol. She's so weird."

"Exactly."

"Are you telling me to try being friends with Perona because I'm as weird as her?"

"Ten bucks if you managed to be friends with her."

The smirk on Sabo's face was wiped away when Koala pulled his cheek. "Fine. Challenge accepted." She giggled, and laid her hand on Sabo's.

* * *

Koala owed Sabo ten bucks. Talking to Perona was easy. She was friendlier than a typical goth chick was supposed to be, and she didn't stare at Koala with her round eyes telling Koala with morbid jokes and comments. She does not have a pet bat, nor does she think that the school discipline teacher was Lucifer in disguise. Perona was bubbly, and was fond of English breakfast tea. It was the fact that the pink haired chick believed her plushies were alive, that scared Koala off. Bearsy, a heavily bandaged teddy bear with an odd circus hat, was her favourite. Perona claimed Bearsy to have masculine voice, and she thought it was uncute that she had to silence him every time he speaks.

Koala thought Perona might need to see a doctor.

In the afternoon, her classmate named Shelly came to her and invited her over for a barbecue party the following night. Having failed at the Perona challenge, Koala had accepted the invitation. Her first party without the brothers, she thought. She wondered if Sabo would be okay with the idea, but she didn't see any harm in a barbecue party. Perhaps Sabo would be alright with going to an all-girls out without him. Maybe she could be friends with Shelly. Maybe she could borrow their make-up, and _actually_ talk about boys with them. Maybe she could ask them things she had been secretly googling the Internet for.

She wore a pair of high waisted denim shorts and threw on a yellow crop top, with a baby blue loose cardigan over her shoulders. It was only a barbecue party after all, with chicken wings and punch and music. She figured dresses would make her look overdressed. She wore light compact powder and her pink lipstick, the only two make-up item in her possession. She forgot to ask Shelly whether there were boys at the party.

But Shelly never mentioned of a backyard pool, and monofin mermaid costumes. Shelly never mentioned about loud trance music, and seashell bikini tops. Shelly never mentioned senior high boys and their buffed bodies, eleven-grade girls with their miniskirts and long legs. Shelly never mentioned vodkas, rums and whiskey.

It was loud and extremely warm when one of Shelly's friends escorted her to the backyard pool area, where everyone else was. The air reeks of alcohol, and it made her stomach lurched. She could feel many boys were laying their eyes on her, and suddenly, she felt lost in the sea of teenager who had never seemed to stop moving their hips to the music. Some of them wore only swimsuits, and some of them were in the pool with their mermaid costumes. She swore she saw the school's most mysterious student, Robin, making out with the green-haired head of the school's Kendo Club.

Koala began to feel sweaty, and her appetite wasn't cooperating with her hunger. She scanned the ridiculous crowd for Shelly, hoping to stay at the food table the entire night and avoid agreeing to anything stupid. From afar, she saw a familiar face — freckled cheeks over fair skin, face framed by Johnny Depp's handsomely wavy hair. Ace caught her eye, and with a cup of lemonade punch in his hand, he didn't look too happy to see her. Ace immediately made her way through the crowd. She knew he was going to give her an endless nagging.

"Koala!" A hand laid on her shoulder, and she turned to find Shelly — finally — in her thick mascara and smudged lipstick. She was giggling as she looked at her, holding her drink high to her shoulders. "I thought you couldn't make it."

"Yeah," Koala said, uncomfortably. She pulled her cardigan closer to her body. "I thought you said this was a barbecue party."

"It is! With a pool! Isn't this great?" Shelly said, her skin glistened with sweat but she remained swaying her body. "I finally got to try my monofins, I feel so much like a mermaid now! Can you swim like a mermaid?"

Koala shrugged awkwardly. "Uh, I guess."

"Come, try one," Shelly said, pulling Koala halfway through the crowd. "And why are you standing alone? Are you okay?"

Even then, she didn't know how to put it in words. She didn't expect this amount of people would be here and she certainly didn't expect the loud music or the rowdy dancing. "I don't know anyone here, I guess."

"Nonsense!" Shelly paused, and held out a drink to her. "Here, have some of this! It'll make you feel more confident. It's like an _energy boost._"

Unable to refuse, Koala took the drink, and took a sip. It was of a clear colour, like Sprite or 7-Up, but it tasted bitter. Her chest felt warm as she gulped down. The lingering aftertaste was uncomfortable, but she loved the warmth effect the drink was giving her.

"You like it, don't you? Take the whole cup!"

Ace, who fought through the crowd before finally getting at Koala, gripped her arms harshly as he called her. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he smelled like his musky perfume and alcohol. His nose was red, but he was sober enough to interrogate Koala of her presence. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He shifted glances between Koala and Shelly.

"Ace, you smell like alcohol," Koala's eyes widened in surprise. Ace had never drank alcohol in front of her and the boys, and he had never mentioned it, either. It was such a surprise, to find Ace in a wild pool party, but it could have been worse — Ace could have been drunk, for all she know.

"_You're_ drinking alcohol," Ace said, snatching the cup from Koala's hands. "Seriously, Shelly? You gave her vodka?"

"Chill, Ace," Shelly said, gripping his arm affectionately. "It's just vodka. I didn't give her anything heavier than that."

Koala's jaw dropped as she turned back to Shelly. "That was alcohol?!"

"What are you doing here, Koa?!" Ace's grip on Koala's arm was beginning to hurt, and his fingernails were clawing into her skin. "You're not supposed to be here, do you have any idea how parties like this goes on—"

"No," Koala interrupted him. "Because you think I'm too young to even go to one party. You think I'll end up being like _one of them Bonneys_ if I do, don't you?"

"Because I'm not letting you into the pool with some half naked boy who only wants to touch you," Ace was half-scolding, and the trance music was beginning to get louder.

"Ooh! You're a pool party virgin, aren't you?" Shelly was excited. "Guys! Boys! We have a pool party virgin over here!" She announced, and as everyone else turned their attention to her, she pointed to Koala, who was puzzled. There were _woo_-s and _aah_-s from the others, and a few muscular handsome boys darted towards Koala and carried her to the pool.

"Fuck, wait, guys! Let her go!" Koala could hear Ace trying to stop the boys from whatever they might be doing to her, but she was too confused. She felt dizzy, and two hands were under her arms, bearing the weight of her upper body, and another pair of hands grabbed both her calf, carrying her. She saw the pool beside her, and they swung her as the rest counted.

_Three, two, one!_

Her body felt light as they let go, allowing her to be thrown in the air, and a surge of adrenaline overtook her body as she crashed onto the surface of the pool. Water soaked through her clothes, and swallowed her body. Everything was dark, and blue. There wasn't enough light as she opened her eyes underwater, but suddenly, she felt as light as a feather. The adrenaline was still pumping in her body. She swam back up, and gasped for air when she rose from the surface.

Everyone else was looking at her. She couldn't tell, whether they were enjoying her misery, or they were expecting her to burst into some sort of battle cry, or at least, a _woo_. Ace had already taken off his checkered shirt — which was never buttoned, anyway — and looked as if he was ready to dive into the pool to rescue her.

But she didn't need to be rescued. She wanted to do it again. Having adrenaline pumps from adventures in the woods while she was younger was one thing. Having adrenaline from being thrown into a pool witnessed by many other people who had shared the same experience was another. It was as if she had passed the initiation stage of joining a cool wild tribe. She laughed, raised her fist upwards. "More vodka!"

Ace's froze at his tracks, and his face fell into a slight disappointment.

* * *

When Koala opened her eyes, her first sight wasn't her own bedroom ceiling. She felt soft mattress beneath her body, and dim white light from the corner of her eyes. Her head felt heavy, and her eyes refused to stay open. Her skin felt sticky of sweat, but she also smelled like chlorine, and her hair felt damp. She was concerned of getting the head pillows wet from her damp hair, so she summoned all her strength to finally sit up on the bed she was laying in.

Unfortunately for her, her head was pounding like crazy, and her clothing felt unfamiliar. She glanced down to notice she was wearing a blue graphic t-shirt that didn't belong to her, at all. She didn't remember changing into these clothes.

Did someone undressed her?

"You're awake," she heard Ace's voice, and as she turned, there he was, leaning at the office chair that had belonged to the computer desk. He dragged the chair with him towards the bed, and handed her a glass of what looked like green juice. "Drink it. You'll hangover whatever will go away."

Too sick and too lazy to argue, she held the drink in her hand, and swallowed a gulp. It tasted horrible, like any other green juices possible. It tasted like blended grass. She gagged, returning the drink to Ace. "What is in this drink? It's horrible!"

"My secret formula. Supposed to lessen your hangover," Ace said, half-amused at Koala's misery.

"Shut up," Koala said, slapping him on his shoulders. "Where's Sabo?"

"He's at a robot wrestling tournament with Luffy, apparently."

"Such a nerd." Koala chortled a laugh. "Does he know that I'm here?"

Ace shook his head. "Although maybe you would explain later. To him."

Koala rubbed her temples, and fought the urge to vomit. "What about Dadan? Does she know that I'm _borrowing_ Sabo's bed? What would she think if she sees me in _Sabo's_ t-shirt?"

"And boxer shorts. You look like, _you know_." Ace smirked, intended to tease. "She was the one who helped you change. I would've just let you sleep in your wet clothes."

"Oh God." Koala threw herself back onto the bed. "Now Dadan's going to tell my dad about me being drunk! I'm dead. I'm so dead. And I could barely remember what happened at the party..."

"Drink," Ace shoved the drink at Koala again, and she took it unwillingly. "It wasn't that bad. You're quiet when you're drunk. You attempted more jumps into the pool, and you almost stripped naked when you were about to try one of those silly mermaid tail thing. Enter me, who had to stop you and brought you home. My shoes smelled like your vomit, but I can always buy another one."

"Oh God," Koala lamented, burying her face in the palm of her hand. "That is so embarrassing. That sounds so bad. I swear I will never, repeat, never agree to attend one of this parties again. What was I thinking? Aren't you supposed to be mad? I'm assuming you're just enjoying this because you're waiting for the right time to say '_I told you so'_, am I right?"

Ace nodded as a sheepish grin glued onto his face. "You're right, I'm really enjoying this. And I don't wanna be mad at you even if I am, really. I've never known you could be such a rebel. Soon enough you're going to start a revolution or something."

Laughter escaped from Koala's lips. "Maybe, if I'm not turning into _one of the Bonney_."

Ace shrugged, and leaned forward towards Koala. "You're my baby sister, Koala. I'll take care of you. Sabo will take great care of you, you know he loves you like crazy shit. And Luffy couldn't stop you from wearing mascara or red lipstick, but he'll take care of you, because we're comadres. Just don't ever leave us, okay?"

Somehow, it made Koala smile. She knew Ace wasn't the one to easily blurt out words of apologies. Like how he said '_you're an idiot'_ when he really meant '_I like you'_, she knew that every bit of his speech was meant to represent his apology. She looked at him with a smile on her face, and tried to extend her arms to hug him, but he was too far, and her body felt sore from the wrestling with pool water. She ended up rustling his Johnny Depp hair. "I won't leave you, I promise."

Ace smiled, and Koala swore he looked at peace. "And oh, Koa?"

"Yeah?"

"I TOLD YOU SO."

* * *

**I dunno. How was it? My writing skills are not at my best right now, and I'll slowly get back on track hopefully! Do R&amp;R, I'd love to know what you'd like to see next!**

**More Perona, of course. She's my favourite non-Strawhat character!**

**Thank you for reading, I love you!**


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